Disappear Doppelgänger Disappear

2022 Longlist

Matt Kim is always tired. He keeps passing out. His cat is dead. His wife and daughter have left him. He’s estranged from his adoptive family. People bump into him on the street as if he isn’t there.

He is pretty sure he’s disappearing. His girlfriend, Yumi, is less convinced. But then she runs into someone who looks exactly like her, and her doppelgänger turns out to have dated someone who looks exactly like Matt. Except the other Matt was superior in every way. He was clever, successful, generous, and beloved―until one day he suddenly and completely vanished without warning. How can Matt Kim protect his existence when a better version of him wasn’t able to? Or is his worse life a reason for his survival?

Set in a troubling time in which a presidential candidate is endorsed by the KKK and white men in red hats stalk Harvard Square, Disappear Doppelgänger Disappear is a haunting and frighteningly funny novel about Asian American stereotypes, the desires that make us human, puns, and what happens to the self when you have to become someone else to be seen.

About the Author/Translator

Matthew Salesses wrote the Amazon bestseller, The Hundred-Year Flood, the national bestseller, Craft In The Real World. Disappear Doppelgänger Disappear was a PEN/Faulkner finalist. His writing has appeared in many publications including Best American Essays 2020, NPR, and the New York Times. His previous books include I’m Not Saying, I’m Just Saying and The Last Repatriate.

Librarian’s Comments

This is an existentialist tale for the 21st century. An amazing story of a Korean American man’s attempt to just…be. This is a meaningful story that overflows with deep thoughts, set in today’s troubled political climate. It is full of humor, pathos, ingenuity, and depth. Cleveland Public Library, United States